Sylvania students invent watch that calls for help when seniors fall

A team of Sylvania elementary and middle school students recently developed a device called Angel Assist, a “smart watch” that would alert emergency response personnel if the wearer falls.

The seven-member team, comprised of students from Sylvan Elementary School and McCord Middle School students, invented the device as part of a FIRST LEGO League challenge to identify a need that senior citizens encounter.

FIRST LEGO League is a robotics program for students age 9 to 14 designed to excite them about science and technology while teaching valuable employment and life skills, according to the group’s website.

Calling their team Mutant Minds, the Sylvania team interviewed a panel of senior citizens, a professor of physics and emergency response professionals before coming up with the invention, according to a news release.

“We spoke to many professionals as well as seniors, who explained that the senior population tends to worry about falling and hurting themselves,” stated the team’s description on FIRST LEGO League’s website. “This may cause them to not want to leave their homes.”

Angel Assist detects a fall via an accelerometer feature. The application can be deactivated by the user if the fall doesn’t require emergency services, but if it is not deactivated within 15 seconds, the device contacts emergency personnel. A GPS system within the watch allows emergency personnel to locate the fallen person.

The Sylvania team, which placed first at the Northwest Ohio FIRST LEGO League competition, is now competing for the FIRST LEGO League Global Innovation Award against more than 400 teams from around the world. The award is designed to encourage and assist teams to further develop their innovative solutions to real-world problems.

The winning team will receive a cash prize of $20,000 and two runners-up will each receive a cash prize of $5,000. The teams must agree to use the prize money to further develop the team’s invention.

The top 10 vote-getters and 10 submissions selected by a panel of experts will be judged by a panel, who will select the three finalists. Judging will be based on solution clearly results, feasibility, originality/creativity, efficiency, public benefit and commercial viability.